Chance Meetings
by Shunters
Summary: Does a different beginning ensure a different ending? No. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. Jack Wilder saves his idol from being hit by a car 3 years before the Horsemen get together and, as a result, things go mostly the same, but...a little bit differently. Jack Daniels. Hurt!daniel at the end. NO character death. Rated T for language, and just in case.


**Chance Meetings…**

 **Summary:** Does a different beginning ensure a different ending? No. But that doesn't mean it can't happen. Jack saves his idol from being hit by a car 3 years before the Horsemen get together and, as a result, things go mostly the same, but...a little bit differently. Jack Daniels. Hurt!daniel at the end. NO character death.

 **Warnings:** Bad language (i.e. swearing). Law breaking. Spoilers for the 1st movie. Description of pain. Descriptions of a panic attack. Not neurotypical people in this thing. Danny's got issues

 **A/N: okay, so this is the 1st part of my 30 Day OTP challenge. It started as an OTP challenge which turned into a OTP prompt challenge which turned into a challenge to write 30 different fics with as much gayness as possible XD (not in a rude way, though, just putting as much LGBTQ+ characters & elements into them). This challenge was in order to clear my case of writers block. Yes, I will write a sequel to Connor's Secrets at some point, but I must clear my block first. My 8 prompt words were; **_**glistening, car, attic, amuse, hell, summon, towering, mend**_ **. Enjoy, Shunters!**

… **Change Everything**

At the age of 22, J. Daniel Atlas was a rather successful magician. The only problem was that he went through assistants and crew members like he went through flash paper. At the moment, he had a beautiful assistant by the name of Henley. She had lasted the longest of them so far and was still performing with him after 6 months, which was a miracle in itself.

It was the second day of the New Year, and Danny was crossing the road, after his show, pondering on what to eat for dinner. Suddenly, there was a scream, then something collided with him and he was hitting the unforgiving ground, his head connecting painfully with the grey beneath him. He yelled and closed his eyes, stars jumping around before him. Then, he realised that the heavy breathing wasn't just coming from him, but someone on top of him as well.

Daniel reopened his eyes, staring into the brown ones above. The man was saying something, but it took a while for his ears to catch up to his eyes.

"-okay?" the man turned his head and told someone nearby, "call an ambulance, I think he's hurt," the stranger turned back to Daniel, "can you hear me, man?"

The magician grimaced as light reflected off the glistening rain and made his eyes sting, "yeah," he whispered, "I hear you."

The younger man sighed in relief before smiling, "okay, let's get you up."

There were hands on his arms as the stranger pulled him into a sitting position. Daniel's head swam and his vision flicked white for a second.

"Woah," the man caught him as he started to fall backwards, "alright," the guy whispered as he gently moved Daniel back against the wall of a nearby building. The magician's view came back to him, "think you have a concussion or something," the stranger muttered, "um, I'm Jack, do you know your name?"

"Yeah, I'm J. Daniel Atlas," he replied, wincing again as the beam of a car headlight flashed in his eyes.

"I saw your show tonight," the man- Jack- told him, "it was great. Loved the card tricks, by the way."

"Thanks," Danny said, lacking his usual smirk due to his head pounding.

"The ambulance should be here in a minute," someone new said. That was when he registered the crowd that was now forming around them, muttering to themselves.

Daniel closed his eyes, feeling tired. Someone was shaking him and saying his name, trying to get him to stay awake.

"Don' wanna…tir'd."

"Dan…" the voice faded as he fell into unconsciousness.

* * *

He awoke to a sharp pain in his head and an incessant beeping. The shrill noise caused the pain in his head to spike and he let out a small groan. He wanted to go back to the painless oblivion he had just come from, please. Right now. The beeping picked up speed and he winced. God, what was that damn noise?!

There was the sound of a door opening and closing, before, "Daniel? Can you open your eyes for me?" it was a woman's voice.

He groaned in response, frowning at the pain.

"I need you to open your eyes for me," the woman said, "the lights are off, so that should help," he let out a frustrated sigh before relenting and opening his eyes, "good, I'm Doctor West. I'm gonna ask you some questions, okay?" he hummed an agreement, "do you know the date?"

"Um, 2nd January 2013," he said after a moment's thought.

"And what about your name?" she asked.

"Daniel Atlas," he replied.

"Good," she nodded, "do you remember what happened?"

"Not really…I had just finished my show, I was, er, crossing the road or, um, getting dinner, and…something happened, I think I hit my head or something," he told her, a frown on his face.

Doctor West pulled out a pen light, telling him, "you were crossing the road," she shone the light in his left eye, making him hiss at the light, "when a speeding car came round the corner," she continued, checking his other eye while he hissed, "a man managed to tackle you out of the way in time, but you hit your head on the concrete," she pulled away from him and put her pen light away, "you've got a concussion; I'm gonna keep you overnight for observation, get you an MRI and…do you have anyone who can look after you 24/7?"

"Um, no, I live alone," he told her.

"Ok, then I'll keep you here for an additional couple of days," the doctor told him.

Daniel sighed, "but I've got a show to do tomorrow."

"Not anymore," the blonde shook her head, "you've got a bad concussion, and could have brain damage, you're not going to be allowed to sleep until I give the all clear, and…I'm afraid that isn't going to be for a while."

He sighed, flopping back onto the bed, "great," he muttered.

"I'm going to schedule you in for an MRI," West told him as she jotted something down on his chart, before attaching it to the end of his bed and leaving.

Danny reached into his pocket, pulling out his pack of cards. He shuffled through them, practising the repetitive motions he had perfected long ago. There was a knock at the door and he fumbled the cards, scattering them across the bed as pain spiked in his head. A man poked his head around the door into his room. Seeing Daniel awake, he walked in, closing the door behind him as he walked towards the bed.

"Hey," the stranger said.

"Hi," Danny said, wondering if he should know this man, this…very attractive man, "do- do I know you?"

"Um, I'm Jack," the man replied, holding out his hand.

Daniel shook his hand, "I'm-"

"J. Daniel Atlas," Jack smiled, "I know."

Daniel frowned, slightly, his lips quirking in a slight smile as well, "have we met?" he asked, sitting back against the headboard of the hospital bed.

"Um, I tackled you," Jack gave a chuckle at the ridiculous sentence, "um, out the way of the car," the older man joined in with the laughter.

"That is a new one, I have to say," Daniel replied.

Jack smiled, "well, I felt really bad about landing you in hospital, so," he pulled something out of his pocket with nimble fingers, "I got you these," he passed over what he was handing.

Danny inspected the items, finding them to be a pack of Heretic cards and a black rope necklace with a black top hat on it. Peeking out from the top of the hat was a white rabbit. He laughed as he put his necklace on, "thank you, but you didn't have to do that."

"Oh, it's no problem," the younger man replied, "I figured you'd need something to cheer you up while you're cooped up in here."

Daniel smiled and looked at the new pack of cards, "well, thank you."

Jack shrugged as he gathered up the playing cards that were scattered on the bed. He shuffled them and flipped them out of habit, before dropping them back in the box, passing them to Daniel, who was looking at him strangely, slightly questioningly.

"Force of habit," he explained.

Danny nodded, "you're a street magician."

"Yeah," Jack nodded.

"What's your focus?"

"Sleight."

Daniel smirked.

* * *

Two months later, Henley quit and Daniel was fired because he went through too many crew members and assistants. Jack moved in with Daniel, helping each other out with rent and food. The showman went solo, going back to street magic, while Jack continued to pick pockets and perform his sleight tricks. After a week of living together, the pair finally started dating. A month after moving in together, Jack persuaded his boyfriend to break into a house with him.

The sleight had pickpocketed a key from a couple who were on their way to the airport, to go on holiday. He figured, why not? He could always get away if the cops came by. Jack unlocked the door, Danny standing behind him, watching. The younger man made his way straight for the cupboard under the stairs while Danny shut the door behind him. Jack quickly opened the door and typed in the alarm code he'd found in the man's wallet. The shrill beep of the warning alarm stopped and the younger turned to his boyfriend.

"Told you, Danny, it's easy," he grinned, kissing the showman.

"Wonderful, what now?" Daniel asked when the kiss ended.

"Now, we check the house for cash," Jack replied, grin still plastered on his face, "don't bother with the valuables; too risky, just go for the cash."

Daniel sighed, shaking his head with a smirk, "you're such a bad influence on me."

"Thank you," the younger smirked, "I've got this floor, you get the second."

The older nodded, "what about the attic? There could be a safe in there."

"Nah," Jack shook his head, "don't bother."

Ten minutes later Jack silently crept into the bedroom behind Danny. The young man smirked. He slunk over, tackling his partner onto the double bed. Danny let out a surprised yell and Jack started laughing, letting his boyfriend turn over to face him.

"Mm, glad I amuse you," the showman told him, sarcastically.

Jack laughed, before leaning down to kiss him. He trailed kisses along Danny's jaw, under his chin, down his throat, behind his ear, back to his jugular.

"No, we can't do that here," Daniel told him as his hand slipped to undo his jacket.

Jack continued the kiss Danny's neck, biting slightly and licking the flesh there. The sleight slipped the showman's jacket off, undoing his shirt and trailing kisses down his chest.

"Oh, we are so going to hell," Danny groaned.

Jack laughed, "thought you didn't believe in hell," he said before going back to kissing Danny's neck.

"Oh, you're right…guess we're good then," he admitted.

Jack laughed, smirking at his lover.

* * *

 **3 years later**

Danny fumbled for the lock to shove the key in. Jack was currently attacking his neck and they needed to get inside their apartment before this became awkward for the neighbours. He finally managed to get the door open as Jack managed to tear off his jacket. The sleight dropped both their jackets on the ground as he kicked the door shut and pushed Danny onto the sofa, pulling both their shirts off. He kissed down the showman's neck, stopping at the tattoo which rested over Danny's heart. It was of a padlock. The key to which rested on Jack's wrist. The both enjoyed the irony of the cheesy matching tattoos, because nothing is ever locked, but the symbolism still stands.

Daniel had many tattoos, while Jack only had the one. The older man's tattoos all represented the most important things in his life, and parts of himself. The ace of spades on his right forearm represented his love of magic; the molecule of adrenaline behind his left ear stood for his daredevil nature; the quote _'reality is a figment of your imagination'_ on his right shoulder blade showed his understanding of psychology and his talent for manipulation; the Pansexual sign on his ankle represented his pride in his sexuality; the word 'breathe.' in type writer text on his right palm, below his thumb stood for his anxiety. The padlock over his heart was a physical way to show the world how much he loved Jack.

The sleight continued to kiss Danny's chest, until the showman said, "wait, Jack."

Jack looked up, concerned that he'd done something, "what? What's wrong."

Daniel was staring at something over his shoulder. The older man gently pushed him off and moved to the end of the couch, "someone's been in here."

"What?" Jack asked, "has something been taken?" he knew that Danny wouldn't be mistaken because his eidetic memory meant he knew where everything was, while his OCD meant that everything had a place and he would know when something was different.

The black haired man picked up the fortune teller's card on the table beside the sofa and frowned looking at it. _The Lover_. Danny quickly stood from the sofa, walking to the fridge to pin the card to it with a magnet. He started walking back through the apartment to see if there was a second one. While going back through the living room, he saw the pile of clothes and had to move them. As he picked up Jack's jacket, something fell out. It was a second card.

"What's that?" the sleight asked.

He wordlessly handed the card over. Jack inspected it before smirking at him. He smirked back.

* * *

In the taxi on the way to meeting place, Danny was panicking because, "…what if we're just being called somewhere to get murdered? And what if this is just some kind of sick joke? Why would they even summon us with a tarot card? Why not just drop us a text, or use the postal service? And-"

Jack rolled his eyes, before leaning in to kiss his love who was speaking faster and faster, "calm," he kissed the showman again, "breathe," he planted another kiss on Danny's lips, "relax."

Danny closed his eyes, nodding as he breathed steadily. Jack ran his thumbs over the older man's knuckles, soothing him.

The taxi pulled up and Daniel opened his eyes, "go," Jack told him with a smirk, "I'll pay."

Danny nodded, before stepping out of the cab, "Henley! Henley Reeves!"

The redhead turned, "Danny?"

"So," he pulled out his card, "you got a card too, huh?"

"Mm-hmm," she nodded.

"That's good, good for you, congratulations," Jack stepped up behind him, "okay, so here's what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go inside, I'm gonna scope the place out, you two wait out here," he stopped at the front door, turning to his companions, "do not come in."

"Hey, Daniel, not your assistant anymore," Henley strode passed him into the building.

Jack grimaced, squeezing his hand in reassurance, before stepping into the towering building. Danny jogged to catch up.

"So, um, what have you been up to?" he asked.

She scoffed, "you know exactly what I've been up to; I saw all your _anonymous_ postings on my website."

"You have a website, that's good. Good for you, get the word out," Daniel replied. Jack sometimes forgets how his genius lover doesn't understand the basic socialising rules.

"And that," Jack interrupted, "is J. Daniel Atlas speak for 'I'm glad you're successful enough to have your own website where people can view your shows'. I'm Jack, by the way."

"Henley Reeves, nice to meet you," the woman replied, laughing and stopping on the stairs, "are you his new assistant?"

Jack laughed, "oh, no. We both do solo work."

"Huh," she turned and continued up the stairs.

When the three arrived, there was another man standing by the door. They held their cards up to the new guy.

"Okay, so, obviously none of us were the only ones chosen," the hatted man stated, "let me be the first to kick my ego to the curb," he looked Henley over, "you, don't tell me," he looked contemplative, "Helen, no, Henley."

Danny rolled his eyes, "it's written on your coffee cup," he told his ex-assistant.

"Thanks for keeping me honest," the older man replied, "that wasn't mentalist, by the way, it was just an observation. Second observation, you are beautiful."

"Thank you," she replied with a grin.

"J. Daniel Atlas," he said, "I just wanted to say, that I know who you are and-"

"Danny," Jack interrupted, giving him a look.

"Shut up?" the showman guessed.

Jack nodded with a grin, patting him on the back, "well done, you're learning," Danny rolled his eyes, while the sleight turned back to the other two, "I'm Jack. Are we waiting for someone, or...?"

"Door's locked," Merritt told him.

"Nothing's ever locked," Jack and Danny replied at the same time.

Henley and the hatted man raised their eyebrows at the pair's comment, as Danny moved to the door. He pulled out what looked like a credit card, but slid it open to reveal a lock picking set. He picked his tools, placing them in the lock and turning. He felt for the flexibilities and the tensions, before he knocked to pins into place and the door clicked open.

Jack nodded his approval, "one minute, 57 seconds," he commented, "nice work," he moved closer to Danny, "I still could have done it in less than half your time, but, hey, it's an improvement."

Daniel rolled his eyes, holding the door open for Jack, "ladies first," he said with a smirk.

Jack chuckled as he walked into the flat, the others following.

* * *

Three weeks into their planning and Daniel had his first panic attack since meeting Merritt. He was extremely surprised it had taken him this long, what with the lack of order around here and the fact that he was living with two people he had no concept of _leaving things where they are_. Danny had just woken up and he could already tell it was coming; his hands were shaking and breathing wasn't as easy as it should have been. He stood up, getting dressed and practising his breathing exercises. He walked into the living room, and that's when he snapped. All because Merritt had moved the blueprints and the _bloody couch_ was now _across the room_ and it was all _wrong wrong WRONG!_

Daniel quickly moved to the kitchen to find Jack, who could help him and _fix the wrongness_. Then the smell of food hit him and he gagged. He ran to the kitchen sink and started dry heaving. There were voices- Henley's maybe- saying "Daniel!" and asking something about being okay, but it was not okay.

He dry heaved again, and then he was falling backwards and strong arms caught him. He knew this was his Jack. It was always his Jack. They were on the ground now and he was still hyperventilating.

"Let me-" that was Merritt, maybe.

"Back off," his Jack growled that.

"Jack-"

"I said back off!"

His chest hurt now and he was sure they could hear his heart from China. His breathing was getting worse and he felt like he was drowning. He wasn't quite attached to his surroundings, but he knew there was someone behind him, whispering in his ears, stroking their thumbs over his knuckles and holding their joined hands to his chest. He could feel the other person's chest expand and deflate as they breathed against his back. He tried to copy their breathing pattern, but he couldn't because everything that was _wrong_ was circling in his head and he was sure there were tears in his eyes. He was light headed now, vision starting to go white and he started to clutch desperately at the person behind him. Then they were moving and there was a face in front of him, Jack's face- was that Jack's face?- they leaned forward, surprising him by smashing their lips together. As a reflex, he held his breath. Sound started to come back to him now, instead of just the buzzing.

Daniel's hands were on Jack's chest and his boyfriend was telling him, "breathe with me. In. Out. In. Out. In. Out," Danny did as told, slowing his breathing, "you with me, Danny?" he nodded, "good. Calm," the sleight kissed his left palm, "breathe," Jack kissed his other palm, "relax," both his hands were kissed as Jack rubbed his knuckles.

Danny tipped forward, resting his head on his lover's shoulder as he put an arm around him, rubbing Danny's back. After a few minutes, Henley spoke up.

"Someone want to explain to me what just happened?" the red head asked.

"I should tell them," Jack whispered in his ear.

"Don't go," Danny whispered back.

"I won't, I'll stay right here with you," the short haired man whispered.

Daniel took a deeper breath, before nodding, "okay."

"Danny has OCD," Jack told the other two Horsemen, "and obviously the lack of routine, structure and order of the last few weeks all piled up, and...this was the result. I probably would have been able to stop it, if the damn couch wasn't in the wrong place," he growled the last bit, glaring at Merritt. Obviously, he had already told the older man that Danny would freak when he found out.

Daniel whimpered at the reminder and whispered a frustrated, "fix it," to Jack; his Jack could do anything and the wrongness would be fixed.

"Fix it, Merritt," Jack frowned at the mentalist.

"What?" the oldest member asked, slightly surprised by the turn of events.

"Fix it! Put it back where it was! Put everything back in its place!" the youngest member growled.

"Okay, okay, I'll fix it," the mentalist left with Henley to right the living room.

Jack continued to rub soothing circles on Daniel's back, shushing him and whispering, "I love you," into his ear.

The showman repeated his mantra of _'calm. Breathe. Relax'_ in his head, focusing on his breathing and Jack's warm hand on his back.

"Everything's gonna by alright, Danny," Jack promised. After a minute, the Lover stroked Death's back, showing that he was fine now, "do you wanna get up?"

Daniel took a deep breath and nodded his head against his partner's shoulder before lifting it, "okay, then," Jack said, "let's get you up," he grabbed Danny's arms, pulling him up with him.

The curly haired was exhausted and shaky from the whole experience. He paused momentarily as his head spun. He nodded his head, indicating to his lover that he was fine to walk now. Jack helped him as they walked to their bedroom. The living room was mostly back to normal now, although Danny still averted his eyes to the ground. When the lovers reached their bedroom, the door was shut and Danny was deposited on the bed. He cuddled up to Jack, who had joined him in bed, letting the showman rest his head over Death's heart while they snaked their arms around each other.

"Do you want a rainbow slushy?" Jack asked, quietly; Danny was secretly a bigger kid than him. The older man nodded his head, tightening his arms around the sleight, "okay," Jack said, deftly pulling out his phone.

He texted Henley, asking her to pick up two rainbow slushies for him because Danny wouldn't let him leave. Daniel was left alone with Jack for the rest of the day, the pair just laying with each other in bed. The slush puppy gave Daniel enough energy to stop shaking and Jack soon destructed him with kisses and card tricks. In a way, the days he had a panic attack were his favourite because it allowed him to spend the whole day with Jack.

* * *

As Jack's turn came up in their second big show, a year later, Danny stayed on stage with him. Jack undid his jacket and Danny helped him pulled it off.

"Gotta take my clothes off for this," Jack said to the crowd, "allow for more movement while doing my magic."

"Hmm," Danny said, "taking your clothes off? That's always where the magic starts with you, isn't it?" he wiggled his eyebrows and the crowd laughed, whistling.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, Danny," he joked, "doing that on stage, in front of a live audience. Tut tut tut."

"Oo, kinky, Jack," Danny replied.

"Shut up," said man replied with no heat.

Daniel winked, with a smirk, leaving the stage with the jacket he'd taken from his sleight.

"Ok," Jack was saying, "let's get back to the actual magic, not Daniel's dirty minded stuff..." and on the show went.

* * *

"Danny, I don't know if I can do this," Jack had muttered to him, before the plan began.

Daniel placed his hands either side of the younger man's face and kissed him, "stick to the plan, love, it will be fine," they kissed passionately again, both of them hoping it would not be for the last time.

In that one kiss, they tried to convey all their love, hope, passion, nervousness, and wish for them to never separate. Danny pulled away as the need for air clawed at him. He rested his forehead against Jack's, closing his eyes and repeating his mantra in his head, _'calm. Breathe. Relax. Calm. Breathe. Relax...'_ he turned from the younger man and headed for the window.

"Guys," he announced, "they're here."

* * *

His eyes were red from crying; his lover was dead. It was _wrong_ , but he needed to _focus_ because they had to record a video in preparation for their next show.

"Jack wanted to be the greatest magician in history," Merritt was saying, "...we can't say he achieved that, but wherever he is...we hope it's full of magic."

They took a moment to think and gather themselves.

"The point," Danny started, voice breaking, so he cleared it and started again, "er, the point is that, this is-" his voice broke again and he stayed quiet, letting Merritt take over.

"The point is that we can't stop now; this is bigger than all of us."

Daniel was tapping his thumb to each finger over and over again on his right hand, staring off into space. He felt his throat constrict and swallowed to suppress the tears.

"Remember the name Jack Wilder when you watch us at 5 Point, Queens, at 7 o'clock," Henley was saying, voice full of emotion.

Daniel closed his eyes, wiping them with his right hand and swallowing again.

"Danny?" Henley asked tentatively.

"Don't call me that," he snapped, voice thick with unshed tears, "only he- only he gets- got to call me that," the past tense broke him and he stood quickly, muttering a, "I gotta go," as he strode away.

Daniel walked- ran- through to the living room, jumping on top of the person on the couch. There was a muffled 'oof' and 'Daniel, get off me'. That made the showman chock on a sob and let out a shaky breath.

"Daniel?" the voice wasn't muffled anymore and there was a hand in his hair, "are you having a panic attack?" the voice was worried.

Daniel shrugged, letting out another chocked off sob as shivers started to run through his body. The person who lay beneath him tried to sit up, but stopped at another sob from Daniel, following by, "don't leave me, Jack."

"Ok, Danny" the man said, relaxing back down on the couch and hugging the other Horseman close, "I won't."

* * *

The crowd cheered as their final show came to an end, "all we wanted was to bring the world to a magic show," Henley told the crowd.

"And thereby bring a little magic back to the world," Daniel continued.

On the ground below, Agent Rhodes shouted, "clear the way!" as he ran towards the building the three Horsemen were on.

Merritt continued the speech, "this has been one hell of a ride for all of us."

"But it's time for us to disappear," Henley stated.

"Good night, New York," Daniel said.

Merritt concluded with, "and thank you for believing in us."

The Horsemen turned to run towards the end of the roof as Rhodes took his shooting stance, "stop! Freeze!" he yelled.

"No," Alma called from behind.

He pulled the trigger just as she pulled his arm up. The Horsemen started to turn slightly, to get ready to fall. There was a gunshot and they all 'exploded' into 'money', before dropping to the ground. Daniel felt a slight twinge in his arm, but the adrenaline pumping through his body made him think it was just a pulled muscle. The Horsemen took off across the other roof, running through the city, Assassin's Creed style.

As they stopped to catch their breath in an alleyway, Danny noticed he was getting light headed and his right shoulder hurt more now. He looked at it. There was a dark wet patch around it. He dragged it fingers across it. Blood.

"Er, guys," he got the laughing pair's attention, "I think I was shot."

"What?" Henley asked as she came rushing over. He showed her his shaking fingers and then his shoulder, "oh my god."

Now that the adrenaline was starting to wear off, the wound was really starting the sting and ache, "Jesus Christ," he muttered, clutching his arm just below the wound, "oh, that hurts," it felt like fire racing through in veins and an explosion of needles danced down his arm and torso.

He was lightheaded and really quite dizzy now. His vision was _spinning_ and he knew that he needed to stop the bleeding. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and tied it around the wound with his teeth and good hand. He yelled as the pain sharpened and his vision flashed white, but he knew this needed to be done.

Henley and Merritt had a muttered conversation, before the older man led the way to a private doctor he knew. The man owed Merritt a couple of favours, so the cops wouldn't be called on them, and Danny's wound would be taken care of. Apparently, he was lucky; it was a clean through and through, with no permanent damage. He got stitched up, received a blood transfusion and was given bunch of painkillers to take while his shoulder was on the mend. He would also have a wear a sling for a week or two and not exhaust himself.

The three Horsemen made their way to Central Park, a little late, but still within reason.

"It's locked," Merritt said as he fiddled with the padlock on the gate.

"Haven't you been listening?" Daniel questioned him.

"Nothing's ever locked," a voice continued from the other side of the fence.

The Horsemen grinned at their 'dead' friend as he picked the lock.

"Well done, Mr. Wilder," Henley clapped.

"You're a real man now, Jack," Merritt laughed.

The two made their way through the gate, while Daniel hung back.

"Danny, you coming?" Jack asked.

The showman stepped out of the shadows and towards his lover, worried about the reaction to his sling.

"What the hell happened?!" the sleight demanded.

"I might have..." Daniel trailed off into a muttered.

"Didn't quite catch that," Jack replied.

"I might have gotten shot at the end of our performance," the older man admitted.

"What?!" Jack yelled, before pulling his lover in for a hug, kissing him soundly on the lips and grabbing his good hand, "never, again, are you allowed to get shot."

"Wasn't like it was part of the plan," Danny reminded him.

"Don't care," the younger man replied, "I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

Daniel huffed a laugh, "fine."

"Good," Jack nodded.

The Horsemen continued through the park, looking for the tree.

"What if all of this was just leading to us getting mugged in Central Park at 2AM?" Merritt questioned the others, rhetorically.

"No, this is where we need to be," Danny told him, "I can feel it. We just have to find-"

"That," Henley said.

"The Lineal Shrike Tree," he finished.

The other three Horsemen handed their cards to Henley. The tarot cards clipped together, turning see-through. She waved the Eye's card in front of the playing card encased in glass. The glass glowed and the merry-go-round behind them started up and they walked towards it.

"I did not see that coming," Merritt stated as they saw who was waiting for them.

"That was actually...pretty good," Danny said.

Rhodes laughed, "thank you."

"So, when I said always be the smartest guy in the room...?"

"We were in agreement," the FBI Agent replied.

"Okay," Daniel nodded.

"I am so sorry for kicking your ass back there," Jack apologised from beside Daniel.

Rhodes laughed, before turning to the person who had yet to speak, "Henley?"

"I have never seen her speechless," Danny told him.

"Well, I take that as a compliment," Rhodes extended his hand for her to shake, which she did, while half curtsying.

"For the record," Merritt started, "I have always been a firm believer in how much I control these infidels..."

The group laughed, while Henley smacked him on the arm.

"Merritt," Rhodes interrupted, "you're in."

"God bless," the hatted man replied.

The double agent looked questioningly at Danny's new sling.

"Oh, yeah, you shot me," the showman told him.

"Really?" Dylan looked shocked, "oh, sorry, man," he winced, "that wasn't actually part of the plan. Did you get in stitched up already?"

"Yeah," Danny nodded.

"Good," Rhodes said, "okay, moving on. Welcome, to the Eye."

The five made their way onto the merry-go-round, towards a new life.

 **A/N: so that's the end. I may continue this fic/expand it if I get enough interest in it, after my 30 day challenge. I know this was quite a long fic for a challenge thing, and the other fics won't all be as long as this one. But, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it.** _Next up_ **for my OTP challenge is Merlin. The pairing this time is _Gwaine/Merlin_ (I will be doing more than 1 OTP for Merlin).**

 **Shunters**


End file.
